Track 6: THIRD WAVE MISSION: Partnerships (Saturday afternoon)
Video Training Tool for Parish Twinning Relationships from a Catholic Perspective
Mike Gable (Mission Office, Archdiocese of Cincinnati) & Mike Haasl (Center for Mission, Archdiocese of St. Paul)
Abstract: Parish twinning relationships have become increasingly accepted as a new form of mission engagement. Pope Francis’s recent teachings, particularly in his EvangeliiGaudium, has given further impetus to Catholics to express their faith through its “missionary option” and specifically notes the local church (parish/diocese) as one place to locate that engagement. While earlier forms of mission included careful preparation of missionaries, the formation of practitioners of this form of mission has been minimal and often fails to account for the challenges and hazards of cross-cultural mission. Due to the grassroots nature of parish twinning relationships, formation tools need to be succinct, to-the-point, and engaging. This presentation will be a 15-minute interactive video on principles and guidance for parish twinning as grounded in Catholic Social Teaching and recent mission scholarship. We will invite response and dialogue with other ASM participants.
Discussion of Video Training Tool
Transformation in the Midst of Crisis: Reclaiming a Theology of Conversion in Christian Mission and Humanitarian Aid
Joya Colon-Berezin (Ecumenical Relations Coordinator / Immigration and Refugee Program, Church World Service)
Abstract: The faith-based humanitarian aid movement is at a point of transition that some are calling a crisis.Over the course of the twentieth century, ecumenical missions sought to integrate their understanding of Christian mission as a distinctive religious practice within humanitarianism as a more general secular practice. The language of charity was one of the more common means by which this integration was pursued. Recent scholarship has tended to criticize such language as being a vestige of western colonialism.Within ecumenical missionary circles the language of partnership emerged after 1947 to address colonial structures and move the world Christian community toward a post-colonial world. Despite these efforts, the language still failed to elude the lingering colonial structures, continuing to defy the equality that “partnership” sought to achieve.In order to truly move beyond colonial structures faith-based humanitarian aid must find an alternative theological basis and language of mission. This paper offers a narrative rooted in the biblical and theological concept ofconversion. Through building on recent scholarship this paper seeks to reclaim and redefine conversion as a process undergone by the one who is sent, arriving at transformation in the midst of crisis.
Planning for an Edited Volume on Short-term Mission and Partnerships
Moderator: Kim Lamberty (Catholic Relief Services)